• Grow your own Ghost Pine (Pinus sabiniana), a true Golden State endemic from the foothills of California!
  
• Landscaping projects, windbreak plantings, restoration work, reforestation efforts — there's never been a better time to pick up the trees for the job!
• Seed-grown without poison or pesticides at our nursery on California's Redwood Coast
• Transplanting and care instructions included
  
  
  

Highlights

	Moisture Low
	Cold Hardiness 5°F
	Light Full Sun
	Size 40 – 80' tall / 15 – 25' spread
	Lifespan 200 yrs
	Growth Rate Fast Growing
	Drought Tolerance High
	Wind Resistance High

Tree Story

About Ghost Pine

Ghost Pine (Pinus sabiniana), also called Gray Pine, Bull Pine, and Foothill Pine, is a medium-sized tree native to the foothill woodlands and chaparrals of California’s Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges — a true Golden State endemic. It is often associated with Blue Oak, Valley Oak, and Interior Live Oak, with which it forms a habitat characteristic of the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion: a sparse over story above a canopy of the oak woodland. A drought-resistant, shade-intolerant species, Ghost Pine prefers well-draining soils and a Mediterranean-like climate — hot, dry, summers and cool, wet winters.

Mature trees, living for up to 200 years, measure from 40 to 80 feet tall and 12 to 36 inches across at the base. The crown is open with sparse foliage, the trunks leaning and crooked. Its tendency to self-prune means branching usually begins high up on the stem. Needles are grayish-green, hanging loosely in bundles of three, and can reach up to 17 inches in length. Cones are mostly symmetrical, egg-shaped, and 6 to 10 inches long with massive flat “claws” on their scales — the largest cones of any conifer in northwestern California. Bark is dark-gray with irregular fissures.

One naturalist noted that from a distance, the silvery needles of the Ghost Pine appear to shimmer, ghost-like, out of California’s hot, dry chaparrals. Similarly, the foliage, which hangs loosely about the tree’s tilted, dark trunk, is often described as wispy and ghostly.

Size Chart

Seedling Size Chart: Small

Due to the dynamic nature of actively growing trees, as well as the tremendous variation between species’ growth rates, we rely on the cubic volume of a seedling’s root mass to determine its “size” (Small / Medium / Large / XL). Within each size there is minor variance — the dimensions provided here represent the category minimum. If exact measurements are essential, please contact us about current stock.